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Briefings
Ethical Considerations in the Conduct of Research on Therapies for the Prevention and Treatment of Ebola Virus Disease in Developing Countries
The devastating toll of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa necessitates considerations of new approaches to research into new prevention technologies and treatments for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). Research must be planned and delivered in consultation with civil society from…
Epidemics and Resistance in Colonial Sierra Leone during the First World War
Regional and global disease epidemics, which followed in the wake of the First World War, became the crucial tipping point in the balance between resistance and accommodation that had been established between the British colonial administration and newly colonized people…
Background Reports
Epidemics (Especially Ebola)
Anthropology’s response to the West African Ebola epidemic was one of the most rapid and expansive anthropological interventions to a global health emergency in the discipline’s history. This article sets forth the size and scale of the anthropological response and…
Briefings
“We are the heroes because we are ready to die for this country”: Participants’ Decision-Making and “Grounded Ethics” in an Ebola Vaccine Clinical Trial
The 2014–2016 Ebola epidemic presented a challenging setting in which to carry out clinical trials. This paper reports findings from social science research carried out in Kambia, Northern Sierra Leone during first year of an Ebola vaccine trial (August 2015–July…
Background Reports
Engaging ‘Communities’: Anthropological Insights from the West African Ebola Epidemic
The recent Ebola epidemic in West Africa highlights how engaging with the sociocultural dimensions of epidemics is critical to mounting an effective outbreak response. Community engagement was pivotal to ending the epidemic and will be to post-Ebola recovery, health system…
Background Reports
Emerging Disease or Emerging Diagnosis?: Lassa Fever and Ebola in Sierra Leone
It has become routine to attribute the tragedy of the West African Ebola epidemic to inexperience and lack of knowledge. The states and citizens of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone were portrayed as entirely unfamiliar with Ebola and therefore without…
Background Reports
Ebola Through a Glass, Darkly: Ways of Knowing the State and Each Other
The Ebola epidemic unfolded in radically divergent manners in two neighboring villages in Sierra Leone, with one recording 40 cases and 20 deaths and the other recording zero cases, though they are located only 100 meters apart. Presented with identical…
Background Reports
Ebola and Lessons for Development
As the Ebola crisis continues to unfold across West Africa and the international community belatedly responds, broader questions arise beyond the immediate challenges on the ground. These fundamentally challenge our understanding of ‘development’ as framed and practised in past decades.…
Background Reports
Cultural Transmission of Traditional Ecological Knowledge among Batwa Pygmies and Ntomba Bantou in Lake Tumba Landscape, Democratic Republic of Congo
This paper is a case study which aims to examine how today’s techniques related to different livelihood activities, but also in the social field, are acquired and transmitted among Batwa (pygmies) and Ntomba (bantou) communities living in the two villages (Moheli…
Field Notes
Cultural Influences Behind Cholera Transmission in the Far North Region, Republic of Cameroon: A Field Experience and Implications for Operational Level Planning of Interventions
In recent years, the Far North Region of Cameroon has experienced serious and recurrent Cholera outbreaks. Yet, understanding of cultural influences on outbreaks and spread remain poorly understood. This qualitative study explored cultural influences on Cholera exposure in this region.…
Background Reports
Costs for Households and Community Perception of Meningitis Epidemics in Burkina Faso
Bacterial meningitis in the African meningitis belt remains 1 of the most serious threats to health. The perceptions regarding meningitis in local populations and the cost of illness for households are not well described. We conducted an anthropologic and economic…
Briefings
Controversial Ebola Vaccine Trials in Ghana: A Thematic Analysis of Critiques and Rebuttals in Digital News
Communication is of paramount importance in responding to health crises. The authors studied the media messages put forth by different stakeholders in two Ebola vaccine trials that became controversial in Ghana. These interactions between health authorities, political actors, and public…
